The Webb–Pomerene Act was a law which came into effect on April 10, 1918 that exempted certain exporters' associations from certain antitrust regulations. Sponsored by Rep. Edwin Y. Webb (D) of North Carolina and Sen.

Atlee Pomerene Atlee Pomerene (December 6, 1863 – November 12, 1937) was an American Democratic Party politician and lawyer from Ohio. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Ohio for a few months in 1911 and then represented Ohio in the United States Senate from ...

(D) of Ohio, the act granted immunity from

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

regulation to companies that combined to operate the export trade that was essential to the war effort. The law was intended to promote American export trade. The act was important because it granted exemptions from the

Clayton Antitrust Act The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 (, codified at , ), is a part of United States antitrust law with the goal of adding further substance to the U.S. antitrust law regime; the Clayton Act seeks to prevent anticompetitive practices in their inci ...

of 1914. Many large conglomerates that had previously been subject to Federal antitrust investigations were now free to continue "business as usual" because they "aided" the war effort. Webb-Pomerene exemptions lasted well into the 1920s as the Federal Trade Commission granted stays of investigation for those companies that initially qualified for exemption under the 1918 act.

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